Stop the Export of LGBT Hatred to Uganda

A Ugandan gay rights advocate was recently bludgeoned to death in his home. His name had been among those listed in an anti-gay magazine, under the headline "Hang them!"

Right-wing U.S. extremists have fueled a climate of hatred in Uganda – and it's got to stop.

A few months before a bill was introduced in Uganda that would make homosexuality punishable by death, Scott Lively and two other anti-gay ministers from America held an anti-gay conference in Uganda.

Prominent right-wing leader Lou Engle visited Uganda this year to preach against "the threat of homosexuality" (portrayed as a "satanic attack against families") at a rally that focused on prayers for the bill.

And now, Georgia-based pastor Carl Ellis Jenkins is opening 50 new churches in Uganda that exist to preach against "bad morals, including homosexuality" and they're expanding across East Africa.

In the wake of the death of Ugandan gay rights advocate David Kato, I hope you'll consider the impact of the atmosphere of anti-gay hostility your words and actions have helped create in Uganda.

I know you didn't call for violence or death. But promoting a culture of intolerance has consequences, and in a country where anti-gay attacks are common and where the legislature has considered the death penalty for gays and lesbians, such a culture can have terrible consequences.

At the core of every religious tradition is love of humanity and love of creator -- not hatred for your neighbors. Please stop exporting hate in the name of religion.